Naruto: Eyes on the Skies
by AzureAceStarburst
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki wants to become Hokage. Sasuke Uchiha wants revenge on Itachi Uchiha. Asuka Kamiko wants to become an ANBU. Three Ninja with dreams are about to change the world.


Bored. Asuka Kamiko was bored.

Any moment now, Iruka-Sensei would walk through that classroom door, and class would finally begin. Any moment now. Any second now.

Asuka's light green eyes drifted away from the classroom door, and to her classmates in front of her. She sat alone, at the center desk furthest from the classroom's teacher. She didn't mind, she could easily read the board from there. And as far as she was concerned, the further she was from the other pupils, the better.

Her brown-dyed hair fell loosely around her shoulders, her sharp-featured aquilline-nosed face staring at the blackboard. Her light green eyes began noticing traces of chalk, making out what was on the board during the previous lessons. Just relatively advanced Ninjutsu theory, nothing she hadn't already learned from her trips to the library.

Her body was tall and well-developed for her age, and she was one of the physically strongest kunoichi in the class thanks to her strict self-imposed training regime. Her chest was bandaged up to lessen the bouncing when she fought, resulting in a still-rather-pointed chest, and she wore a plain white t-shirt and tight black cloth elastic leggings over her body. An unbuttoned white leather overcoat with black trim covered her back, with many pockets hidden inside, most filled with scrolls. In a choice of clothing unusual for a Shinobi, she wore electric-insulating black rubber boots, rather than the usual sandles. If asked, she would claim they were to protect her from Raiton Jutsu.

Even more unusual for a Shinobi, she had two katanas, one on each hip, and a third, much longer katana at her back. They were all concealed in their sheathes, even though she was starting to wish they weren't.

She laced her long, thin hands together, looking to see what her classmates were doing. She didn't know most of their names, and she didn't want to.

The Uchiha's fanclub stared longingly at the raven-haired genin, who laced his fingers and glared ahead silently, not even caring that several kunoichi were starving themselves due to an untrue rumour that he liked thin girls with long hair. Asuka smirked, as she was the one who started that rumour, just to see if they'd actually starve themselves at a young age, stunting their own growth and muscular development just for the slim chance that the Uchiha might hate them less. The Pineapple-Ponytailed one had fallen asleep as usual, arms and head on the desk in front of him, and his faithful pet Fatty sat next to him, eating those disgusting crisps, or chips, or whatever he called them. She'd once stolenone ofhisbags when he wasn't looking, eaten one crisp, and put it back on his belt so he wouldn't notice. She'd rather eat poison than eat one of those crisps again.

She li... She didn't hate those two. Completely. Pineapple-hair was one of the few genin that actually knew what he was doing, and he seemed to be surprisingly smart, even if he was unforgivably lazy. Hopefully, he'd grow out of that. The same went for his pet... no, the loyal soldier in the making. They could be great Ninjas... it was a shame she couldn't be on their team. Sadly, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had to be kept going, even though the entire Shinobi world probably knew about it by now. Dumb-Blondy was almost certainly going to get paired up with them, even though she was even more annoying than Naruto Uzu... something. What was his name again? Naruto Uzu-haki? Close enough.

_Speaking of which..._ Asuka thought as the classroom door opened slowly, revealing everyone's least favourite annoyingly hyperactive blonde ninja in an orange jumpsuit, the one, the only, Naruto Uzunagi. At first, Asuka thought the entire class hated him simply because everyone else did. Then, she overheard the other children being warned by their parents about 'The demon-child'.

_'Demon-child'? Please. What's so demonic about a ninja that can't even pass the genin exams! And everyone could pass the genin exams, even that annoying kid from last year that couldn't even use chakra!_ Asuka thought in mirth.

She then leaned forwards. _Is that a Village Headband?! Where did he get that?!_

Iruka walked in after the boy, without his headband. _Ah, so that's it. _Asuka thought. _He stole his teacher's headband. The one teacher that actually likes him. Wow. Smooth move, Naruto Izanami. I'm sure this act of idiocy will get you one step closer to achieving your dream._

"Hey, where did Naruto get that Headband?!" Sakura asked loudly, standing up.

"Did he steal it from you, Iruka-Sensei?" Ino asked moments after.

"He didn't steal anything." Iruka said firmly.

The left corner of Asuka's mouth twitched upwards in what could almost be considered a smirk. _Lie._ She thought amusedly. She then remembered what she had heard about a theft at the Scroll Storage last night, and easily put two and two together, although she had trouble believing it. _He broke in... and stole... No, not possible. He's an idiot, he couldn't possibly... Then again, last time I was there, I saw eighteen routes I could take into that place, all without encountering a single guard, and twenty more routes where I'd only encounter a few guards that I could incapacitate one by one before they'd raise any alarms. Is it really that hard to assume his dumb luck let him stumble onto a good route?_

Naruto slowly went over to his seat, and sat down.

_Why's he so sad? He should be happier, he's a Ninja now, he's one step closer to his dream! Unless..._

Asuka stood up, and raised her left hand. "Iruka-Sensei?"

"Yes, Asuka?" Iruka responded.

"Is the Hokage alright?" She asked, surprised to find that she was actually worried for the old man's safety.

Everyone turned to look at her in surprise, so she clarified. "Naruto isn't annoyingly hyperactive. He likes the Hokage, and wants to be the Hokage some day. Therefore, perhaps our current Hokage is retiring, or 'Retiring', and the sight of seeing someone else become Hokage instead of him, reminding him how he'll never become Hokage, it sickens him to his core. It makes him really think- For once in his life," she added amusedly -if it's all worth it."

"You're wrong!" Naruto shouted, standing up and overdramatically pointing a finger at her. "The Hokage is fine! And I will be Hokage some day, believe it!"

"I'll believe it when you become a Jonin. Sound good?" She asked, smirking.

"It's a deal!" Naruto declared. "And just you watch, I'm going to become Jonin so quickly, you won't believe it!"

"The current record for fastest promotion to Jonin went to Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's older brother and only surviving relative." Asuka pointed out. Sasuke stiffened upon hearing someone mention Itachi's name.

"Big deal!" Naruto huffed, folding his arms. "I bet I could beat that!"

"You think you could surpass Itachi Uchiha?" Asuka asked, amused.

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled.

"Sasuke hasn't surpassed Itachi yet." Asuka pointed out. Sasuke stiffened even more.

"Naruto, don't talk bad about Sasuke!" Sakura yelled, standing up to defend her crush's honour. Her crush honestly didn't care in the slightest about 'His honour being insulted'. He was more annoyed by how that idiot Naruto seemed to believe he could surpass Itachi before he could.

"Now how is that talking bad about Sasuke?" Asuka asked. "It's not. So shut up, Suck-ura."

A few pupils laughed at that. Naruto paused for a moment as he tried to figure out her insult. And when he did, he fell back onto his seat and laughed loudly, marking an end to everyone else's laughter. Nobody wanted to be caught laughing with him.

Sakura blushed embarrassedly, and then suddenly turned to rage. "Narutooo!" Sakura roared, blaming him, getting up and stalking over to him.

"I am your opponent." Asuka hissed, her hand straying towards her left sword.

Ino laughed. "Are you defending him?"

Her left thumb clicked her left sword three inches out of its sheath, sending a loud chakra-enhanced echoing click resonating through the room. Once she had most of her classmates' attention and fear, mostly fear, she continued.

"Of course not!" Asuka answered, slightly irritated. "I don't like Naruto. I like... someone else. I'm only doing this because I just don't like Sakura. Or you, to be completely honest. You're both really, really lame. And annoying. It's a shame Shikamaru and Chouji will be stuck with you. They would have made such good ninjas without you." She looked at Iruka, nodded at him, and in the least subtle way possible, she said, "Hint hint, put me on their team instead!" She then looked back at the two kunoichi and smiled. "But seriously, Ino-pig, Billboard Brow, What were your scores on the Practical Tests, again? Zero, zero, zero, and two?"

Everyone stared in confusion.

Asuka rolled her eyes, and then explained. "Zero fighting skill, zero purpose in life beyond your pathetic childish crush, and the only two things you've actually got."

"Oh yeah? And what are those?" Ino asked angrily.

Asuka glanced down meaningfully. "The two things Sakura seems to lack." She grinned.

Naruto accurately guessed what she meant, and burst into laughter.

"NARUTOOO!" Sakura growled, walking towards Naruto.

"Take one more step towards him, Pinko, I dare you!" Asuka snapped, her hands straying to her swords.

"Are you sticking up for him?" Sakura asked, outraged, turning on her.

"No, I just really want to fight you!" Asuka shouted.

While it was nice to see someone sticking up for Naruto for a change- Even if she insisted she wasn't - Iruka knew that this had to end soon, before the classroom ended up like one of the Hidden Mist's Genin Exams: A no-holds-barred free-for-all slaughterfest, with only the

survivors becoming Genin. Appropriate, considering her heritage. Retired fourty-something ex-ANBU shinobi mother, currently-deceased father from Mist. How had she even managed to afford the Academy's tuition fees, anyway? She wasn't exactly well-off.

Iruka shook his head. He'd look into that later. Right now, he needed to stop this fight before it escalated further.

"That's enough, Sakura." Iruka said good-naturedly with a nice, kind smile.

_Damn right it is._ Asuka thought, glaring at Sakura.

"Now, today, I'll be giving you your team assignments." Iruka said, taking a stack of papers out of his desk drawer and changing the subject.

Asuka tilted her head forwards, obscuring her eyes with her hair. She then frowned, as if she was reading what Iruka-Sensei was reading.

Iruka searched through the stack of papers, before finding the right one. He then read it, and part of him wondered if this really was the right one. This year's teams were... strange.

_Team 10, Ino-Shika-Cho, as always. Nothing to complain about there. 'If it's not broke, don't fix it', as the saying went. That team goes to Asuma, for some reason. Great, now all four of them can throw a 'Daddy-issues' party._

_Team 8, Hinata Hyuuga... Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame?! With her crippling self-confidence issues, the last thing she needed was to be put on a team with Kiba, who matched Naruto in terms of lewdness and possibly even surpassed him. Or Shino, who reminded him so much of Danzo's 'A perfect Ninja is completely emotionless' ideals that it wasn't even funny. And that team goes to Kurenai, the Genjutsu mistress... But that team doesn't even have a Genjutsu Specialist! Taijutsu and Clan techniques only, for all of them! Do Jyuuken techniques even work on dogs?!_

Asuka frowned, coming to similar conclusions.

_Team 7... Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno- Wonderful, pair the annoying, loudmouthed master of Dumb Luck with the even more annoying screeching self-starving Sasuke...somethinging girl. Wor-Shipping? Stalking? Sure, Sasuke-stalking._

And then she saw the final nail in the coffin: The third member of their team. Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha. _That filthy fangirl gets the only half-decent ninja in the class on her team?! _She screamed inside her head. _What the hell?! And their teacher is... Kakashi Hatake. Copy-Ninja Kakashi... Kuso._

And then she saw shat she could only describe as an even final-er nail in the coffin.

_Team 6: Sensei, Ebisu. Asuka Kamiko... Oh, HELL NO._

Asuka's right hand strayed towards the sword on her right hip as her left eye twitched.

Fortunately, Iruka seemed to have the same idea. "Class?" He asked, forcing a smile. How could the team assignments be so terrible?! ...Was Mizuki involved? He could see why he'd put Naruto with Sasuke, the poster boy for arrogance and pride issues, and Sakura, a fangirl worthless in combat whowould make sure his ego stays inflated, and possibly drag the team down and get them both killed. But Team 8, a hopefully-recon team that takes overspecialising to a new level? Was it because Hinata seemed to have a crush on Naruto, and so Mizuki wanted to keep those two as far away from each other as possible?

Iruka knew how Academy Teachers tended to spy on their pupils during lunchtimes and breaktimes, to check for any friendships, rivalries or other relationships that could make a good team. Standard procedure was to pair the friends, then the rivals, then those with complimentary abilities such as the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and finally, pair whoever's left. Or 'Pair the spares', as some would put it.

But to intentionally sabotage teams, and the future of your own village, in the hopes that certain ninjas would die? Just how far down the slippery slope of insanity had Mizuki gone?

"It would seem there's been a mistake with the Team Roster. I'll look into it. Until then..." Iruka's nice smile grew wider. "How would you like an early break?"

Most of the Academy Students sighed in relief or smiled gratefully as they left the classroom, heading for the playground.

Rather than get up and walk, Asuka used Shunshin no Jutsu to teleport outside. Her ANBU mother had beaten this jutsu into her, along with the Substitution Jutsu, and the chakra control exercises she'd need if she was ever going to surpass her mother and make her proud. And then rub it in her face, to make up for all the comments, ranging from passive-agressive to downright cruel, she'd received over the years. Asuka didn't think of it as abuse, she just thought her rougher-than-usual childhood was another thing that made her better than the other overly-pampered couldn't-punch-out-a-fly so-called-Kunoichi in the class.

And hopefully, this better-ness wouldn't force her to end up with the two worst students in the class stuck on her team, with their incompetence balancing out her skill.

She appeared in the middle of the playground, and then used Shunshin again, teleporting onto the Academy Roof. Once she was certain she would not be disturbed, she sat down, crosded her legs, folded her arms beneath her breasts, and closed her eyes. She breathed deeply, and then slowly exhaled, chakra surging through her body, and then slowing down and speeding up again in time with her inhaling and exhaling.

* * *

Down in the Academy Playground, most of the Genin hadn't even noticed Asuka's sudden disappearance. Except for Shino Aburame. A week ago, he had found out where she went by planting a female Kikai on her and tracking her with it. He kept quiet about her location, mainly because he kept quiet about most things, only talked when he had to, and didn't careabout Asuka's solo training. Shikamaru also noticed her absence, but he didn't know where she went to and honestly didn't care. Finally, Kiba noticed her disappearance, and had some rather raunchy theories as to where she went to and what she did to earn those near-top-scores across the board.

Shikamaru was lying down in the corner of the Playground, gazing longingly at the clouds passing by. Choji sat next to him, hungrily devouring the contents of a bag of crisps. Ino, Sakura, and the other members of Sasuke's fanclub were huddled up in a different corner, talking about Sasuke and exchanging usually-untrue rumours regarding his taste in women. Naruto sat alone on a swingset, and Hinata hid in the shadows behind him, staring at her crush and trying to work up the courage to talk to him. Kiba and Akamaru were running around and chasing each other. Shino was staring off into the distance, standing stiller than any statue, creeping out anyone who looked in his general direction.

Asuka opened her eyes suddenly, remembering something. She uncrossed her legs, got up, and used Shunshin to teleport down onto the playground, right in front of Naruto. the blonde boy jumped a little, but didn't fall off the swing and onto his back like she was expecting. _Strange, he didn't over-react... he must have been distracted by something._

"Alright, Dead-Last." She said quietly, her left hand drifting towards the sword at her left hip. "There are only four ways someone like you could have become Genin without passing the Genin exams. Tell me how you became Genin so quickly!"

Naruto, nervous and panicked, began talking very, very quickly. "Well I failed the Genin Exam but this teacher called Mizuki told me I'd get Extra Credit and become Genin if I broke into the Hokage Tower and stole a Forbidden Scroll so I did and then I ran away fromthe guards because they found out even though I hadn't ran into any guards or traps on the way in and I didn't make any noise so I was looking for Mizuki but then Iruka found me and-"

"Wait." Asuka said firmly. "You stole... a Forbidden Scroll. From Hokage Tower. You."

Noticing that his skills as a Ninja were being called into question, he got off the swing, and pointed, yelling louder than he needed to. "Hey, are you saying you don't think I'm good enough?!" He yelled.

"You're the dead-last. If my mother couldn't do it, then there's no way you could-" She suddenly stopped talking. Her frown deepened. "You had help from someone." She stated. "I heard that Mizuki was a traitor. Committing a crime is far worse than attempting to commit a crime, but failing or getting stopped at the last second. If he was setting you up, then... He must have screwed with the guard rotation, giving you a free path to the scrolls. Then he'd alert the guards, once you'd gotten the Forbidden Scroll. Smart move, Mizuki."

"Hey, it wasn't Mizuki! It was me, Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!"

"Oh yeah?" Asuka asked, smiling haughtily. "Well, if you're so good... then why don't you fight me?"

He paused, and seemed confused. "Fight you?" He wondered. "But... but you're a girl."

"And you're an idiot." Asuka said coldly. She unclipped two of the sheathed swords at her hips, and held her two swords, with their sheaths still attached, in her hands. She then suddenly whipped her head around, staring directly at Hinata. "And you? Cute stalker girl?" Hinata gasped in horror, her entire body freezing up. Asuka smirked. "Don't interrupt the fight. My swords stay sheathed, unless someone interrupts. I'll try not to hurt him too much, ok?"

"Huh? Hinata?" Naruto wondered, standing up and turning around, looking at her.

"Hey!" Asuka yelled. "We're sparring, so don't ignore me!"

"I'm not ignoring you!" Naruto yelled, turning to face his opponent.

Asuka backed up, moving towards the sandy patch of ground that seemed designed with playground fights in mind. It was even pretty close to the size of an arena's ring. She began analysing her opponent, who started going through some handseals. _He's terrible at Ninjutsu, so I doubt it'll be_- She stoped suddenly when she realised there was only one handseal involved in her opponent's jutsu.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled out, announcing the jutsu's name for all to hear. There was a large puff of smoke, and suddenly there was a crowd of Narutos surrounding both Asuka, and the real Naruto.

"WHAT?!" Asuka screeched, her left eye twitching. "You can't... That's... That jutsu... Chakra-intense... Jonin-level... Genin... Huh?!"

The Narutos smiled, and they all folded their arms. "How's that for dead-last?!" The original Naruto shouted.

He had the attention of everyone else on the yard. Shikamaru had sat up, and looked at Naruto as though he was playing Shogi, and cheating by eating the pieces. Choji had humorously paused with a crisp halfway raised to his open mouth. Ino, Sakura, and the rest of Sasuke's fanclub looked at Naruto, but most of them didn't seem that shocked, mainly because most of them didn't know about the Shadow Clone Jutsu's drawbacks or chakra cost, or anything other than its name and what it appeared to do. Shino stared at the crowds, and ordered a single Kikai to scuttle towards the original Naruto, and attach itself to him when it could, possibly when the figth was over. Sasuke frowned as he stared at the battle, wishing he had his Sharingan and that he could have used it to copy that jutsu, and wondering when Naruto gained so much chakra. Hinata stared at Naruto, starting to see that she was right about him. Kiba and Akamaru looked at the fight, wondering when it'd start.

"Hey, when is this fight gonna start?" Kiba asked impatiently. "Get on with it!"

"Yeah, kick his ass!" Sakura shouted.

_I'm outnumbered... And she thinks he'll still get his ass kicked?! She must really hate this guy. _Asuka thought. _Now, the best way to beat this crowd of over thirty angry Narutos... _She frowned. _The real one is right there, in front of me. If I charged at him, the clones would get me. And if there's one thing this dead-last is good at, it's getting his ass kicked. The clones would automatically disperse if the original died, but I can't kill him, or I'd have to fill out a metric crapton of forms. He doesn't know when to quit, either, so I won't be able to make him surrender before his Shadow Clones get me, so... Plan B._

Asuka clipped her swords back onto her belt, and started making handseals. Her body flickered out of existence for a second, and re-appeared outside of the crowd, about ten feet to the left of it. She started going through the handseals for another jutsu. "Earth Style: Imperfect Swamp!"

"Get her!" The Naruto clones shouted, charging at her.

She crouched down, slamming both palms against the ground. The ground beneath her and the arena churned up, grass disintegrating and sand melting into loose, wet mud.

All who tried to move while on the chakra-charged mud, mainly the Shadow Clones, slipped and fell onto their rear ends, dispersing into clouds of smoke. Soon, all of the Narutos had been tripped up, and the original Naruto was lying face-down in the mud.

"Ah, the dirt suits you so well!" Asuka taunted. The crowd started laughing, and cheering her on. She ignored them, and went through the handseals for another jutsu, aimed at the real Naruto. "Earth Style: Mud River!"

A horizontal column of mud with a dragon's head at the end rocketed forwards, aimed straight at Naruto. The Naruto tried to get up, but he kept slipping on the chakra-infused mud. He raised his arms over his head and curled up, and the mud dragon struck him with the combined force of five punches. He was pushed out to the edge of the mud arena, away from Asuka.

Asuka started panting from using so much chakra, but she hid it well. _Why didn't that knock him out?_ She wondered. _That would have even knocked me out._ ..._Come on, I can still win this. I've already made my opponent look like an idiot, and I've got the advantage._

Naruto rolled over, and got onto his elbows and knees with his rear end facing Asuka. She raised an eyebrow. He tried to get up, but ended up slipping, his elbows sliding forwards as his knees slid backwards, hitting the ground chest-first. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled, creating two crowds of four clones on either side of him. They appeared standing up in the mud, and soon fell, dispersing as they hit the ground.

_Aaand he's back down again._ Asuka thought. "Give up yet?" She asked.

"I will... never give up!" Naruto growled, using Shadow Clone Jutsu again. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A crowd of thirty Narutos appeared in front of him, already lying on their chests. The original Naruto grabbed onto one, climbed up and stepped on his back, and then ran across the mud lake by using his clones at stepping stones, each one grunting in pain as they were stepped on by the original.

"What?!" Asuka snapped. _That wasn't... that shouldn't even... how is that even possible?! How does he have enough chakra for this?! Wait a second... why does his grimace seem to get worse with each dispersed clone? Is he gianing the memories of each Clone as they disperse? Was my mother right, when she said the Shadow clone Jutsu was more throuble than it was worth? ...Just kidding, my mother is never right._

"Doton: Stonewall!" She shouted, crouching down and slamming her hands against the ground as a four-foottall and one-foot thick dried-mud wall appeared in front of her.

Naruto jumped up, and punched his hand towards the earth wall-

The then grabbed the ledge, flipped over the wall, and began a downward axe-kick to Asuka. Asuka crossed both arms above her head and blocked the kick, sliding back from the froce of the blow. Naruto landed on the ground in a heroic pose-

And then slipped up again, landing on his rear.

"Alright, how about this?!" Asuka growled, performing the Boar handseal. The mud created by her justu dissipated, revealing the sand and grass that was there earlier that day. Naruto got up, and ran over to her, fist raised for a punch to the head. Hey, it was a fight, and she said she was okay with it.

"Take... this! Wind style: Airblast Cannon!" Asuka shouted at the last second. She thrust her hands forwards, a large wave of air expanding in front of her, striking him head-on and exploding. He was flung back, tumbling headover heels until he struck atree and slowly slid to the ground.

Asuka smiled. _There's no way he could be awake after-_

"Ow..." Naruto groaned, getting up.

"Oh come on!" She shouted.

"How much more can he take?" Shikamaru wondered absentmindedly.

"Poor guy." Chouji said sympathetically, slowing down in his rapid consumption of crisps.

Ino was torn- She couldn't decide whether to cheer on Asuka, because she was kicking Naruto's butt... or to cheer on Naruto, because he was fighting Asuka and she really, really didn't like her. And something about this fight... was she actually feeling sympathy for Naruto? The loud, annoying, dead-last Naruto? No, that couldn't be right. It must have just been her dislike of that beak-nosed girl, Asuka. _With a butt that big, she should be called ass-uka!_ She thought, smiling.

Naruto ran over to her, charging her head-on again. She began performing handseals, as he got closer and closer.

"Raiton: Thunder Fang!" She shouted, her arms lighting up with elecricity, and she thrusted both palms onto Naruto's shoulders. There was a sudden huge flash of crackling electricity that momentarily lit up the playground with a deep blue light, casting the whole Academy in a deep blue hue. Naruto slowly fell to his knees, slumped over, smoke wisping off his blackened shoulders, his throat making a choking sound as he fought to stay awake and not scream from the intense agony.

"Why is it called Thunder Fang, if it's channelled through the hands?" Chouji wondered.

"I don't know, I've never seen that jutsu before." Shikamaru shrugged. "She must have made it herself, or maybe her ANBU mother made it and taught it to her. You can ask her yourself, some time."

Naruto suddenly performed a powerful sweep-kick, tripping Asuka up. Asuka gave out a quick yelp of surprise, reflexively forming the handseals for Shunshin noJutsu as she fell. She hit the ground hard, and then teleported about ten feet away from Naruto, getting to her feet.

Naruto took the opportunity to get up and perform Shadow Clone Jutsu once more, two crowds of five clones appearing either side of him.

"Okay, good move." Asuka grunted. "You have my respect... and my attention! Earth Style: Spikes of the Iron Maiden!" She performed a series of handseals so quickly that her hands became a blur, and then she slammed her palms on the ground.

Eight thin spears of dried earth shot out of the ground one foot in front of each of Naruto's Shadow Clones, impaling all of the Clones in a certain place, a place where no sane man wanted to be impaled. The clones grabbed their lower areas in agony and dispersed. Naruto fell to the ground and screamed, rolling around and writhing in agony as the experiences and memories of those clones rushed into his mind, feeling the pain of over ten attacks to the groin in one sudden moment.

"Oooh." Kiba winced in sympathetic agony, clutching his crotch. He normally found that sort of thing funny, when he saw it happen in manga. Why was it affecting him differently now? ...It must be the sound of Naruto screaming. You couldn't hear the characters, when you were reading Manga. ...Yeah, it must be the sound. He couldn't help but imagine what he would sound like and howit would feel, if it was him struck by that jutsu.

Chouji had a crisp in his hand that was nearing his mouth, but he paused in disbelief and stayed completely still when he saw that attack, the crisp shattering in his hand, the resulting powder and chunks falling to the ground, forgotten. How... How could anyone do something like that?

Sasuke's frown deepened- that jutsu could be used to kill Naruto, rather than torture him. Or it could be used to attack the original Naruto, and make him pass out from blood loss. Shikamaru's eyes widened, coming to the same conclusions. This wasn't just a battle... she was testing his endurance, and seeing if his endurance could make him a good teammate!

Ino winced slightly, wondering if Asuka was starting to go too far. Even when Naruto and Sasuke fought in the Playground, neither of them attacked the other... there.

Sakura burst into laughter. This was absolutely hilarious to her, and it reminded her of all those times her father annoyed her mother by forgetting that she was always right, and mother attacked her father's crotch and laughed at his pain. she'd laugh too, because as her mother always said, men were always so weak down there.

"So my suspicions were correct..." Asuka said, frowning in thought. Normally, that much pain might have garnered some small amount of sympathy from her, but she was in Thinking-Mode, where her emotions were far less important than her thoughts, and distractions like fear, doubt, sympathy and uncertainty had metaphorically 'left the building'. "And these actually are Shadow Clones, and not the basic Bunshin taught to us at the academy. When those clones are destroyed, you gain all of their experiences and memories... that could help you to learn new Jutsu at a very fast rate. However... your opponent can use that against you. I shudder to think what a Genjutsu Specialist could do to those Clones."

Naruto's screaming slowly stopped, couching and spluttering as he got up.

"...Okay, now I'm really impressed." Asuka said, smiling as she walked closer to Naruto. "Earth Style: Imperfect Swamp!"

She thrust her hands to the ground, creating her swamp once more, smaller this time, as she only needed it to keep him on the ground. When he was in that much pain, he wouldn't be able to take his hands away and use them for the shadow Clone Jutsu.

The earth beneath her changed into that familiar mudpool, and Naruto rolled in place, dirt and mud splashing out from beneath him.

She slowly walked over to Naruto, who glared up at her defiantly. Suddenly, she disappeared, as if she'd used Shunshin.

The crowd held their breath.

Just inside the classroom, Iruka drew a Kunai, preparing to step in if need be.

Asuka suddenly appeared right in front of Naruto, stabbing both swords down at him-

-Into the ground, both swords piercingthe dirt just inches away from his head.

Asuka looked downat Naruto, and did something that nobody, not even Shikamaru, was expecting.

She held out her hand to him.

Naruto looked up in confusion.

"Get up." Asuka said, kindly smiling down at him. "I've won... Well played."

He hesitantly took her hand, and stood up, using her to keep from falling over. The mud arena wasn't that large this time, so they didn't have far to walk as they left the battlefield.

As soon as they were out of the arena, the mud arena disintegrated as her chakra was no longer there to maintain it. Asuka pulled her hand away, and walked off.

"Wait!" Naruto shouted after her, confused. "What was that... at the end?"

"Ninjutsu." Asuka answered plainly, still walking away. "It's what I'm good at. That, and swords."

"No, not that. After the fight, you... you helped me up. Why?" He asked, geniunely confused.

Asuka turned around, and smiled. "I've already kicked your ass without even trying. But, your determination impressed me... and your stamina and endurance impressed me a whole lot more! Now, go and train in the hopes that one day, you stop sucking, and you can have a fight where you don't need to use your impressive pain tolerance."

"Hey, you didn't kick my ass!" He yelled. "You just made me fall over a lot. That doesn't count!"

"Weren't you paying attention?" She asked angrily. "I had you in the perfect position to kill you in any way I wanted. But I didn't. Because I want you to tell me how the hell you managed to use Shadow Clone Jutsu, and create over thirty-seven Shadow Clones without even breaking a sweat!"

"Oh, that." Naruro said nervously, grining and reaching behind his back to scratch it. "I... uh... I just have a lot of Chakra."

"I saw that. If you learned some good Ninjutsu, you'd be unstoppable. Now, tell me your training regimen!" She demanded excitedly, moving closer.

"Asuka and Naruto, fighting in the muck!" Kiba taunted in a loud, sing-song voice. "Look at that, they're gonna-"

"Shut up, Kiba!" Asuka yelled, unclipping her sheathed left sword from her belt, and in one swift motion she used Shunshin to teleport behind him, and she hit the back of his head with her sheathed katana. He staggered forwards, and she teleported back to Naruto's front before he could retaliate.

"Now, tell me your training regimen." Asuka demanded, clipping her sword's sheath onto her belt with a loud click. She could do it quietly, when she wanted to, but she liked the clicking sound. It reminded her that she had swords, and she knew how to use them.

"I don't really have much of a training regimen." Naruto said as a lone Kikai scuttled over to him. "I just... have a lot of chakra."

"You just..." She stuttered uncertainly, and then frowned. "Fine, don't tell me. See if I care. I'm gonna go fight someone worth my time!"

She turned to leave, but Naruto stopped her by asking, "Wait, how did you know how to beat me?"

She stopped, and then smirked. "Oh, it's just a little something called strategy. You've probably never heard of it."

"Hey, I know what strategy is!" Naruto yelled angrily.

"Oh really?" She asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow and putting her hands on her hips. "Then tell me, how could you have escaped my final sword attack at the end?"

"By using Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He said proudly.

"I'll admit, the Shadow Clone Jutsu usage was impressive... but you couldn't take your hands off your groin at that point. You need to perform the handseals to use Ninjutsu. Not, how could you have beaten the sword attack?"

"By... uh... hmm..." Naruto hummed thoughtfully, striking an exaggerated 'Thinking' pose.

Asuka shook her head sadly, and walked away. Obviously, the answer was to draw a Kunai, put it in your mouth, and attack. After ten paces, she remembered that she had no friends, and had absolutely no idea where she was going. She Shunshin'd back onto the roof, and went back to meditating.

* * *

"Now, Class..." Iruka said to his pupils as he stood at the front of his classroom, everyone's attention on him. "You have been told that Team Assignments are important. I heard that a lot of you thought your whole lives from this point onwards depended on who you'd be paired up with today. However, because of some... technical issues, your teams have been changed. And now..." He said, raising a piece of paper that had A LOT of lines crossed out and comments added in varying handwriting styles, and comments crossed out with more comments added atop or beside those. The recent Emergency Meeting had certainly been a very eventful and passionate one. "The Team Assignments are:"

"Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi..." Asuka chanted to herself, staring at the paper excitedly with a hungry look. "Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi..."

"Team Seven... Due to your Sensei's request, I must explain why the three of you have been placed on the same team. Asuka Kamiko: As a ninjutsu specialist and swordswoman, your sensei will be... Kakashi Hatake!"

"YYYEEESSSS!" She shouted, standing up and throwing both hands into the air with glee. She then sat down embarassedly.

Iruka's nice smile grew wider, amused by her outburst. "Because of his Sharingan, he will have also have... Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka continued. All of Sasuke's fangirls wailed in despair. Asuka's smile grew wider, amused by their outburst. She didn't think much of the Uchiha's personality, but she begrudgingly admired his skill. After all, he was supposedly Rookie of the Year, a title she still believed she deserved instead. Still, this meant they'd get the dead-last, to balance it out. Then again, that dead-last had shown an impossibly large amount of chakra with that Shadow Clone Jutsu, so perhaps it wasn't all bad.

"And finally, Naruto Uzumaki." Iruka finished, much to Sasuke's displeasure. The raven-haired genin had been resting his elbows on the table, his fingers laced together. Now, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead upon his hands, the very picture of irritation and forced, grudging acceptance. Not even The Last Uchiha could have the teams changed now.

Iruka waited for most of the kunoichi in the classroom to quieten down, and then he continued. "Team 8; Sensei: Kurenai Yuuhi. Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga."

"WHAT?!" Sakura screeched, standing up.

"What's wrong, Pinky?" Kiba asked amusedly, reclining. "Can't you handle this much man?"

"I don't want a DOG on my team!" Sakura protested.

"Hey, what's wrong with dogs?!" Kiba snapped, getting serious as he leaned forwards. Akamaru barked at Sakura, who growled right back.

"Team 9, Sensei: Asuma. Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi." The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, as usual. He was tempted to break it up and put them on different teams, but the previous generation had demanded that their children carry on the family tradition.

"Team 10: . Shino Aburame. Sayaka Tekkai, Kenshiro Shigan." Iruka finished.

Shino Aburame sighed loudly enough for the whole room to hear. It may have been what he would describe as a very emotional action, but he believed it would accurately get his point across. He did not want to be stuck with the bad joke, or... whatever Sayaka was. He had yet to decide on an appropriate phrase for her, toaccurately getacross the reason as to why she might be the least trustworthy genin in the room.

Sayaka looked over at him from the other side of the room, and bit her thumb nervously. _Well, isn't he charming?_ She thought sarcastically. She had blonde hair tied back into two ponytails at the back, and at the front she had a pointy fringe swept to the right. She was dressed like a civilian, wearing a plain, ordinary peach shirt and light brown trousers, along with average black shoes. She didn't seem to have any weapons on her, not even a kunai. Anyone who had fought her would insist that she didn't require any. Despite her skill, she still disliked fighting, but she loved money. Being a Jonin-ranked Ninja could a very high-paying job on good days, and she knew it. She was one of the many girls in the Sasuke Fanclub, but her main reason for wanting him was his money. The Uchiha were one of Konoha's founding families, and so he had a very sizeable inheritance. And that was without even considering the money they'd get from taking on high-levelled missions!

Kenshiro, on the other hand, punched the air enthusiastically. _Heck yeah, I got The Other Creepy Guy!_ He thought happily. He had a sword hidden inside a weapon-summoning scroll at his hip, and wore black metal armoured shoulderpads atop his normal outfit, which looked very similar to the formal funeral uniform that all shinobi had folded up and hidden away in a corner of their wardrobes, never to be spoken of or thought about too hard: A formal buttoned black shirt and black trousers. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and pale skin. At odds with his dark and gloomy appearance, he was quite cheerful, albiet with a grim sense of humour.

Iruka cast one final glance at his students, trying to convince himself that he had made the right choice in allowing the Senseis to debate over who gets who. Well, everyone seemed okay with their teams... Except for Sasuke's Fanclub, who were still in tears. All of those teams, even Shino's team, had reasons behind them. He just wished Anko hadn't insisted there'd be at least one team with two girls and one guy. Something about that team still felt... off. Still, they had two clan kids, so they'd be alright.

...He hoped.

* * *

_A/N: Well, that's chapter one._

_1. Asuka's mother is in ANBU. Her father is NOT anyone you know. -Spoiler Alert, skip to the next paragraph if you don't want spoilers for this fic-: He's actually a ninja from the Hidden Mist Village. He fled, because he had a Bloodline Limit/Kekkei Genkai. Asuka's talent with Ninjutsu, and her three Nature Releases of Earth, Wind and Lightning? That's part of it. Her swords have nothing to do with her Clan, she just has an ANBU mother that really likes swords. Anyway, remember Mist's Bloodline Purges? He fled to Otafuku Gai to escape being lynched. The two ninjas met, had a kid, and then he died during childbirth. Yes, you read that correctly, he died during childbirth. When Asuka's mother gave birth, he died. It will be explained fully later on in the fic. And don't worry, I WILL NOT milk this 'My father is dead, and out of the worst things that could possibly happen, this is the! Worst! Possible! thing!' for all the sappy melodrama that it isn't worth. Asuka doesn't care much either way._

_2. In a lot of fanfics where an OC takes Sakura's place on Team 7, it'll end up Naru/OC or Sasu/OC. That won't happen here. Asuka will never have any romantic feelings for Naruto. She likes someone else, remember? These fics also have the tendency to demonise Sasuke from the start, as if he was always a writhing mass of pure, unrepentant evil, and he'll either be 'purified' by the OC's pure heart and the power of 'twu wuv', or he'll be character-derailed into an evil hateful skill-less fool who only even passed the Academy thanks to his often-exaggerated political power, the power he gets from being The Last Uchiha and all. In actuality, Sasuke wasn't calling his teammates annoying because of cruelty or spite, they were genuinely annoying him. And remember, back at that point in the story, Sakura was a squealing fangirl with no characterisation, drive, combat ability, or worth. Also, Naruto was a loud, annoying idiot, but thankfully, he got better over time. Whenever Naruto and Sasuke fought before the Chunin exams, Sasuke would win without even trying. When Naruto started improving enough to fight him on equal grounds- Plus, when Rock Lee beat him just before the Chunin Exams, - this convinced Sasuke that his current training method wasn't good enough. And remember Kakashi's 'Training'? 'Feed your weakest teammate to prove that you're a good team, then climb a tree, then maybe I'll teach Chidori, one of my +1000 jutsu to one of you, and only one'. I'm going with the 'Kakashi intended for his team to fail their first Chunin Exams, to teach them humility. Plus, he doesn't care much about his rivalry with Might Guy, so he's okay with losing this one' interpretation, rather than the 'Kakashi is an idiot that has no idea what he's doing' interpretation, or the 'Kakashi is an old, tired, PTSD nutcase who is sick to death of being a ninja, and really, really wants him and his whole team to die in the middle of a mission in a way that makes it look like he fought valiantly, as to honour the memory of his fallen teammates,' interpretation. Or the 'Kakashi is an old, tired, PTSD nutcase wracked with Survivor's Guilt, and he's sick to death of being a ninja, and he really, really wants to die saving his new Genin team that strongly resembles his old Genin team, as if it would make up for his old team falling apart and all dying except for him' interpretation. Huh, perhaps that's part of why he kept refusing to teach his previous Genin teams: They didn't resemble his old team enough._

_Orochimaru's Cursed Seal amplified Sasuke's dissatisfaction, so he went from 'If that Dead-last loser can almost beat me, then Kakashi is not a good teacher. I'll never be able to kill Itachi and avenge my clan at this rate!' to 'If those losers can beat me by training alone, while I've been given the best the village has to offer, then Konoha is not a good village. I'll never be able to avenge my clan at this rate!', and eventually, to 'My bonds are holding me back. I should leave Konoha, seek out Orochimaru, and serve him like my Curse Mark is telling me to! Maybe he'll give me power in return, and I can use that power to kill Itachi and avenge my clan! Serve Orochimaru! Get power! Kill Itachi! When that's done... Go home, beg for forgiveness, and hope for the best'. Because, for some reason, nobody told him about Rock Lee and Might Guy's ridiculously hardcore Taijutsu training regime, or that Naruto is a Jinchuriki. And with Shippuden revealing that Naruto and Gaara aren't the only ones, you'd think someone would have told him by now, instead of letting him leave the Village. But nope, it turns out 'The Rival Turns Evil' was on the writer's trope checklist, and he was going to cross it off the list, even if he didn't have to._

_Even when Sakura finds Sasuke, and he's about to leave the Village, she asks to go with him, instead of EXPLAINING WHY HE LOST, IN A WAY THAT MOTIVATES HIM TO TRY HARDER. Dammit, Sakura. Why._

_3. Asuka is actually a very common female first name in Japan, but you'll never see another anime character with that name because nobody wants their show to be associated with Neon Genesis Evangelion. I can understand why. Still, I like the name, even if I dislike the character it seems to be permanently attached to. Plus, it means Fragrance of Tomorrow. The 'Tomorrow' part fits the character, mainly her tendency to plan ahead. Plus, there's Asuka, Yamato, an area in Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture) where imperial palaces and centers of government were built in the 6th and 7th centuries._

_4. I put two OCs in a squad with Shino because I didn't want to write him out completely, but I also didn't want to violate the 'Three Genin and a Jonin' rule for Genin squads. I hate it when fics do that. Large teams organized for a single purpose, like the Sasuke Retrieval Squad, are okay. But needlessly large Genin Squads are not okay, and I have yet to see a fic that does this right._

_5. I do not hate Sakura, at this current point in the manga. I used to hate her at the start, back when she was a useless and loud fangirl. But then she got cooler, gained some Character Development, became less annoying, and gained an almost-devent amount of power. Not enough to get her onto my Favourite Characters list, (Which Shikamaru, Gaara and Hinata will always top, unless they stop being awesome somehow), but enough to remove her from my 'Least favourite character' spot. That 'honour' now goes to Jugo. But remember, this is at the start, and nobody's character development has happened yet._

_6. I promise you, Every character will get some great fight scenes. Even the ones that didn't do much in the original series._

_7. My 'Mizuki sabotaged the squad assignments' theory is my theory as to why Team 8 is what it is in canon. Same goes for the other teams. Sure, you could always make the excuse that the Academy Teachers intentionally designed the Genin Squads to resemble the Jonin's old squads, but seriously... Hinata McAwesomeShy, Kiba McLoudUnderused, and Shino McSmartCold on the same squad?! I also believe Mizuki sabotaged the training and education of several Genin who may end up working with Naruto. After all: why was Sakura dieting? She's a ninja, she would be training and excercising enough to burn off all of her calories. Mizuki probably decided he'd place Sakura(Who was almost completely combat-incapable back then) in the same team as Naruto, and hope she dragged him down enough to get him killed while on-duty. Kakashi got Naruto and therefore Sakura, because of the previous(Does he count as previous, considering how he's the Fourth and Sarutobi's the Third?_

_?) Hokage's request. Sasuke ended up in the team as an afterthought, as everyone else arrived at the Jonin Meeting first and had already called dibs on their chosen Students, but they all agreed that the Genin with the Sharingan should go to the Jonin with the Sharingan. That, and I doubt anyone else wanted Sasuke on their teams._

_8. Asuka defeated Naruto by planning around his Shadow Clones, and taking advantage of the fact that, at that point in canon, he didn't know the Water Walking Jutsu, which would be the perfect counter for her mud jutsu and its chakra-enhanced frictionlessness. If he knew that jutsu, he'd use it, stand up, not think things through, charge at her head-on, and get blasted byher Ninjutsu. Then he'd get back up, and charge her again until she ran out of chakra. Asuka is a strategist and Ninjutsu Specialist, and while she's pretty good with swords, she's awful at Genjutsu, and in a close-combat fight, Naruto could defeat her. If her swords were removed, she'd be even more doomed._

_9. This is not a Fix Fic. Asuka's presence is not going to magically fix everything. Yes, a few things will go differently because of her, but I wouldn't exactly call them "Fixed"... especially considering what happens in the Chunin Exams._


End file.
